


you're everything that my heart adores

by saturnical



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Best Friends, Birthday Party, College, Drunken Kissing, Drunken Shenanigans, Drunkenness, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Minor Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Minor Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Morning Kisses, Morning Sex, Party, Pining, Slow Dancing, Slow Romance, University, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-02-20 06:31:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13141038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saturnical/pseuds/saturnical
Summary: In which Daichi started to notice some things about his best friend Suga after he drunkenly proposed and kissed him on his birthday party.Lots of pining and university stuff.





	you're everything that my heart adores

It is to Daichi’s greatest displeasure that he spent half an hour trying to dispel the awful headache  and the urge to throw the remains of his stomach down the drain whilst trying to figure out how to worm his way out of an obviously wasted Ryu whose arms were draped rather tightly over his torso.

 

 _Talk about irresponsible drinking_. He wondered.

 

He wasn’t sure whether his arm is still okay after bearing the weight of Ryu for what seemed like hours, or if his headache is still within the normal standards of post-birthday hangovers. What he was sure of, however, is that his memory of the night prior is very blurry; almost to the point that the only thing he could remember was Asahi telling him that he thinks that Yuu is like a cat sometimes.

 

The rest of the night? Probably washed away by the overwhelming volume of alcohol he had last night.

 

A choking sound, more like wheezing, emanated from across the room, where bodies of his friends lay on haphazard positions, lay in between. Daichi whipped his head to figure out where the sound came from. He flashed his cell phone light to see who the person is. To his surprise, it was Suga.

 

“Suga?” Daichi croaked, voice almost impossible to decipher as it sounded more of like a burbling cry.

 

Daichi went ahead and removed his numb arm from under Ryu’s body. He also removed his tight grip from his torso and crawled his way towards Suga. He squinted the whole time and cursed the light, or the lack thereof. He kneed some of the boys which earned scuffles and a couple more groans of annoyance. After a while, he was already near Suga’s sleeping bag, this time, his coughs were more punctuated and deep.

 

“Hey,” Daichi whispered, his right hand trying to rouse Suga awake. “Are you alright?”

 

The sound of Daichi’s voice stirred Suga awake, but it took him a couple more minutes _(and coughs)_ to realize who was trying to wake him up.

 

“Daichi?” he grunted heavily, voice thick and saccharine.

 

Daichi gulped--it is for a fact that he find Suga’s morning voice heavily fascinating, to the point that it sent so many alarms and warning signs in his head that he shouldn’t be thinking of his friend _that_ way.

 

“Yeah it’s me,” he said. In return, Suga fidgeted to a sitting position. To Daichi’s amazement, the boy beamed at him. “You were coughing quite badly, I just came over here to che-”

 

Suga’s smile went wider, to the point that it reached both of his eyes. Daichi could not help but wonder if this is what dreams are made of: Suga smiling at him wholeheartedly. Then Suga’s head cocked to the side, egging Daichi to continue his sentence.

 

“Check if you’re alright,” he concluded after a small cough.

 

“It’s just a cold, Daichi.”

 

“Well I couldn’t help but worry.”

 

Suga’s eyes squinted in response and then _slowly_ widened. That was when Daichi realized what he said, but before Daichi could argue and flatten out what might have been a misunderstanding, Suga decided to wriggle out of his sleeping bag. Daichi, out of his curiosity, did not meddle with his friend’s business.

 

Suga, then, stood up and beckoned Daichi to do the same. The two of them made a beeline out of the maze the bodies on the floor have made and then went out of the room. This time, Suga decided to speak up on his natural tone.

“I wouldn’t want to disturb the other boys while they’re sleeping,” Suga tittered as he crept down the hallway. The two of them went down to the kitchen as wisps of dawn filtered the room with a soft orange glow. The streetlights flickered out just as Suga decided to walk his way over the kitchen.

 

“Would you want some coffee?” Suga inquired, hands busy as they try to pry open a container of coffee beans.

 

Daichi nodded in response and then decided to help the other boy in creating a meager breakfast for the two of them.

 

“Scrambled or sunny side up?” Daichi asked, his head immersed on the refrigerator, trying to find where the eggs and butter might be.

 

Suga replied, not missing a beat, “Sunny side up,”

 

“I am actually bad at frying eggs so I think your egg will end up scrambled,” Daichi sighed in resignation.

 

“I wouldn’t mind,” the other boy hummed as he poured the ground beans on the coffee maker. “I’m pretty bad at making coffee myself.”

 

“I thought you boasted on how you would made a killer cup of coffee before?”

 

“Oh, when you first moved in?” Suga pondered, “It’s because my coffee is so bad it could potentially deliver a fatal blow to your system.”

 

“You still continue to amaze me, Suga.” Daichi replied as he opened the burner and put in a slab of butter on it. Then, he proceeded to crack the eggs over it, praying silently that the yolk would still be intact _(it is)_.

 

The two of them worked silently, save for the sizzle and the electric hum of the coffee maker. The lack of sound made Daichi hyper-aware of what Suga is doing. Almost to the point that it made him forget that he was cooking eggs for the both of them.

 

After cooking the eggs _(surprisingly, he was able to cook two sunny side ups and one scrambled to suffice their appetite)_ he placed the plate down the kitchen table and waited for Suga _(who was then making toast for the both of them)._

 

Suga, after a minute or two went to the table and placed a plate of freshly made toast and two mugs of coffee.

 

“Is it two tablespoons of sugar and no cream?” Suga asks before handing him the mug.

 

Daichi smiles and nods in response, he muses, _I never thought he’d remember how I like to take my coffee._

 

“It’s a bit salty isn’t it?” Suga complained while he toyed around with the egg with his fork.

 

Daichi frowned a little bit and said, “I’m really bad at cooking aren’t I?”

 

“Oh,” Suga mumbled, easing up to Daichi’s words, “I didn’t mean it that way! I’m just really sensitive with the saltiness and stuff. I’ll teach you someday on how I like my eggs, maybe that way you would finally survive with your bearable culinary skills.”

 

 _Someday, he’ll teach me how to cook._ Daichi thought to himself. Something about those words sends a flutter down his stomach, a feeling he can’t quite explain nor shrug off.

 

The two of them nursed their coffees (it is to his amazement that Suga makes amazing coffee; he couldn’t help but wonder whether Suga was just trying to encourage him in his feeble attempt to cook) and finished it in no time. Soon, the eggs and toast completely vanished and they were passing the time talking about university antics and so on.

 

Daichi and Suga are high school friends, so are the other boys passed out on Ryu’s room. They were all active players of their volleyball team, and managed to rise their way to the top on their third year of high school.

 

Luckily, Daichi and Suga ended up attending the same university in Sendai. All those moments working their asses off not only in volleyball but also for their academic achievements gave them a spot in Tohoku University, the biggest university on the northeastern region of Japan. Now, the two of them are in their third years, Suga with an Educational Science degree and Daichi with his business degree.

 

Even though they both practically grew up in the same city as their university, it was to their judgment that taking up residence much nearer to the university will benefit the both of them rather than spending three-hour rides back and forth their homes. Turns out, they also ended up becoming roommates, and they still are, after they go back to university after the winter break.

  
  
  
  


“I never thought Chikara, Yuu, and Ryu could throw that wild of a party for you.” Suga remarked after a few minutes of meaningful silence.

Daichi, bereft of anything else left to say, nodded. Though he had considerably have sobered up after eating, drinking his coffee, and conversing with Suga, memories of the past night still fails to conjure up on his mind. It was disappointing, yet he is a bit scared that he might have done something stupid the night before that he can’t even remember.

 

“Well, they’re of age already.” He asserted, “It’s still scary that they made the first years drink as heavily as us.”

 

Suga laughed at Daichi’s words and then recalled, “So typical of you, Daichi. You’re so adherent to the rules when it doesn’t apply to you.”

 

Daichi’s ears perked up on Suga’s comment, “Are you implying that I’m a hypocrite?” He asked playfully, tone mimicking hurt.

 

Suga tried his best at straightening his look. “Yes, yes I am.” Ends up, he’s really bad at pretending.

  
  
  


Kei sometimes does the weirdest things. For one, he sleeps in the most out of the boys, second, when he does wake up, he goes on a tangle of limbs separating himself from his sleeping bag just to show his phone to Tadashi; who in return gasps and shakes Kei awake, almost to the point of making his glasses fall off.

 

“Hey what’s the matter?” Yuu asks, trying to get in between the inseparable duo.

 

“A-Ah, it’s nothing really,” Tadashi says, obviously trying to make up an excuse as to why he reacted so violently.

 

“You wouldn’t be shaken up if it was nothing,” Chikara piped in as he served the first years another helping of toast.

 

“C’mon now, show me!” Yuu forced, trying to extract the phone out of Kei’s hands.

 

Kei sighed in surrender and then tossed the phone towards Yuu, whose eyes went as large as saucers once he saw the entire farce is all about.

 

“I can’t believe the two of you kissed last night!” Yuu beamed, looking at Daichi and Suga, who was stuck in a very unfortunate position. Suga is sitting on the couch, while Daichi is situated on the floor, right in between Suga’s thigh as Suga decided to muck around Daichi’s hair.

 

Suga’s fingers froze on Daichi’s scalp. Involuntarily, the two of them jerked towards opposite directions, making Suga tug a bit on Daichi’s hair.

 

“W-What do you mea-” Daichi chuckled nervously, abruptly cut off by Suga leaving the couch to see what the photo was all about.

 

Daichi couldn’t help but pale when he saw Suga’s mouth gape at the sight. He couldn’t believe it. Suga and him? _Kissing?_

 

He means, there’s really nothing wrong with two men kissing or dating. Truth be told, he never really gave much thought to that concept. He isn’t repulsed, just like other people, but he guessed he just didn’t give it the time of the day. It was just that it felt so weird for him to know that he kissed his best friend; and the biggest thing is he couldn’t remember a moment of it.

 

He doesn’t know whether to be grateful or to be saddened by that fact. Which definitely confused the hell out of him.

 

“I don’t remember kissing anyone?” Daichi babbled, his thoughts all over the place, his face, well, extremely hot.

 

“I do believe that you were extremely intoxicated after a few drinks, Daichi-kun.” Asahi teased from the dining table. “But you stayed up until everyone else passed out.”

 

“I--” he stammered, “I don’t even remember half of the night!”

 

God, if there is only a way to punch himself in the face, Daichi would have done so. He can’t help but feel embarrassed from whatever he might have done yesterday. And Suga--how would he react to Daichi’s craziness last night?

 

“You know everything would be cool if it stopped there,” Ryu chirped.

 

“It didn’t?” Daichi groaned, putting his hands all over his face in shame.

 

“You proposed to Suga-san,” Tobio smirked before stuffing his face full of eggs.

 

“You went down on one knee and gave Suga-san a straw ring,” Yuu reenacted dramatically, kneeling in front of Ryu. “And when Suga-san did not say anything you started bawling your eyes out, crying on how much you would want to take Suga-san out for a date.”

 

Daichi, as red as he can be, removed his hands from his face. He didn’t know what to do. Should he beat his kouhais down into a bloody pulp for mocking him or should he just shy away and wish to shrivel up and die?

 

He decided that he might end up choosing the latter.

 

“Now, stop teasing your senpai,” Suga chastised, “it was just a drunken mistake.”

 

“What?” Asahi remarked, “I tell you, by the way he wailed when you just stared at him, it didn’t even seem like a mistake to me!”

 

“One might think that the two of you are secretly dating!” Ryu hooted, earning laughs of approval from everyone in the room.

 

“Oh! They’re roommates aren’t they?” Hinata commented, adding unnecessary fuel to the flame he didn’t even know existed.

 

Hinata’s words gained a chorus of teasing “Oohs” from everybody. Yuu, even started to wiggle his eyebrows in a funny way, making Suga laugh, yet blush a deep crimson.

 

“Now, now, we shouldn’t tease the couple in question, right?” Chikara indicated, arms draped across his chest and a smile tattooed on his face.

 

The truth is, Daichi had fascinations. Again, he didn’t give the idea of men dating in general, but he did give a few moments to think what if he and Suga _are attracted_ to each other? Sometimes he would think of this, but then brush it off with a shiver, as if it was written in the law that he couldn’t think of Suga that way.

 

But yeah, sometimes he does. For now, he couldn’t deny that Suga is his best mate; and he wouldn’t want things to change in the meantime.

 

“Sorry to burst your bubble but the two of us aren’t dating,” Daichi smiled, though his cheeks are still tinted with a bit of pink, he should stop the rest of his friends from pushing this idea altogether. He doesn’t know whether it’s okay for Suga to be teased this way.

 

“It wouldn’t be much of a problem if the rest of the people who commented believes so.” Kei murmured as he got his phone back from the unsuspecting Suga.

 

“The what?” Daichi shrieked, almost choking on his own words.

 

“I also had a drunken mistake, Cap,” Kei sighed as he handed the phone to a completely shell-shocked Daichi. “I didn’t know I posted it on my SNS.”

 

Daichi scrolled on Kei’s phone to see the photo (which was blurred, yet the details of Suga and Daichi’s faces bunched up together is to no mistake, even people who barely knew the two of them would know it is _them_ ) and the comments below. It was a good thing that Kei isn’t much of a social person and that the only people he ever adds on his SNS are those that are of their age group.

 

Which means every other volleyball team players they have played against when they were in high school.

Playful jests and meaningful teasing bombarded his own sight when he scrolled down to see who might have seen the picture. A stunning one hundred likes and several more comments from friends spanning from congratulations to saying that they had the feeling that Suga and Daichi were actually dating since high school.

 

 _This is getting way out of hand._ Daichi thought.

 

“Woah,” Suga blurted out, “so you’re saying that our friends from the other schools saw that?”

 

Kei nodded fretfully as he took his phone away from Daichi’s frozen figure. He never really thought that akin to his drunkenness, he would create a stupid decision that might have jeopardized his friendship with Suga.

 

“Wow,” Suga said, his voice taking on a note in between disbelief and plain amusement.

 

“You know what?” Asahi exclaimed as to relieve the tension, “Why don't we see Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei for old time’s sake later? We can spend some time with them before parting ways for the New Years.”

 

A hum of agreement glided on the room, some of the boys even started to call Coach Ukai for a brief reunion this afternoon. Soon enough, the cramped up energy from the shocking news dissipated from the room. Once again, normal banter and frequent squeals from either Hinata or Yuu dominated the room.

  
  
  
  


To the former team’s shock, either of the adults knew what happened last night. All eyes went straight up to Daichi and Suga, eyes neither disapproving nor dismayed, but they were smiling, teasing, and saying that they are convinced that the two of them are actually dating in secret.

 

The afternoon went slow. After catching up as a whole, they ended up separated into groups, leaving Daichi and Suga in front of the ramen aisle.

 

“I never thought I’d actually get to see the day that they’d tease the two of us in that way,” Daichi started blabbering, hands casually rearranging the ramen in a way that even Ukai-san would be grateful for.

 

“Y-yeah,” Suga started speaking, “It’s kind of weird isn’t it? You’re like this really close friend of mine and--”

 

Daichi’s heart pinched at Suga’s words. To his perspective, time seems to warp and bend as Suga’s words seemed to dissipate into nothing but background noise. He doesn’t know why, and he can’t pinpoint its cause, but isn’t he supposed to be happy that Suga’s not uncomfortable after all that they’ve been through?

 

Normally friends would be repulsed or shocked at the thought of kissing people who are _strictly_ their friends and nothing more, but Suga almost seemed nonchalant about it, even though the fact remains that _they did kiss_.

 

“Strange, right?” Daichi started to speak up again, now his attention is fixed on his fingers. _I never knew that my knuckles stood out in this particular way_. “But aren’t you like, I don’t know, uncomfortable on what happened yesterday?”

 

“Me?” Suga laughed at the taller boy, “You are truly incredulous sometimes, Daichi. Of course not! It’s just a kiss. No need to lose friends over that.”

 

Suddenly, his fingers are not so interesting anymore.

 

Instead, Daichi looked up to meet Suga’s hazel eyes and wondered what might be the reason why he was given such a beautiful friend in this life, and then he smiled and shook his head to himself.

 

Of course, he is right. He isn’t going to lose Suga that easily.

  
  
  


Winter break ended just as fast as it started, and the boys, much to their dismay, parted ways. The former team bid the formidable duo of Hinata and Tobio farewell as they boarded up for Tokyo. It was a melancholic moment for everyone for they felt like as if their lives are shifting and drifting farther apart from each other.

 

It would be another term until everyone gets to meet again and they are already starting to miss each other. The rest of the boys parted at a later time. Kei, Tadashi, Suga, and Daichi left a few hours after for university.

 

“Ah, my university boys,” Yuu fake-sobbed, grabbing Kei’s collar and fixing it, “I can’t believe we’re parting ways again.”

 

“If you took your academics more seriously you would have been studying with us.” Suga interjected, rubbing the back of his head with his right hand.

 

“Nah. You knew that we were hopeless.” Ryu added as he lugged around with Suga’s luggage, complaining every now and then on how heavy it is.

 

“You’re right. The both of you are truly hopeless.”

  
  
  


As much as it was a pain in the ass for the both of them, the winter term’s load of coursework gave them the excuse to forget all of the silliness that had gone down on Daichi’s birthday party. Though some of their friends (who have, unfortunately, seen Kei’s post) tease them to no end, the two of them just brush it off with reassurances that the two of them are strictly friends.

  
  


(Though it slightly irks Daichi that they are _just_ friends, he couldn’t do much about the feelings on his chest.

 

“I never thought the two of you would ever date!” Yaku turns to them as they were walking towards the library, books and handouts for the preliminaries tucked underneath Daichi’s arms. If it wasn’t for the immobility he’s currently having due to the freezing air, he’s practically sure that he would have dropped those books in shock.

 

Suga cackles. “Yaku, how many times would I have to tell you that we’re not dating?”

 

Yaku’s eyebrows furrow at the two of them. “Are you for real?”

 

“As real as it can be.” Daichi sniffs as the cold air brushes his cheeks.

 

No one speaks for a while, then Yaku just smirked and said, “ _God_ , how long are you gonna keep denying it?”)

  
  
  


Daichi still spends the majority of his free time studying. He was never really the type to take up business, but it was such an interesting concept to him and his family was totally supportive of him taking up such an arduous degree.

 

(Though there are days when he misses the feeling of soaring up into the sky and seeing the other side of the court. He yearns the feeling of sweat clinging into his body and the long nights before the matches. He misses _volleyball_ , for it was, and still is, a great part of his life.)

 

Suga is, well, he’s still the same. Though this term, he spends more of his time writing about learning theories and complaining on how hard the dissertation lectures are, he also devotes much of his free time trying to help Daichi as much as he can by giving him coffee in the dead of the night.

 

Sometimes, Daichi could not help but think that if it wasn’t for Suga, he would have lost his sanity trying to read and analyze cases.

 

Daichi was typing up an analysis on one of his cases when Suga barged in, trying to catch his breath while his face is pinched red from the cold. Upon spotting Daichi, he removed his scarf and coat hastily, not even bothering to remove the both of his shoes before crashing down his bed face down.

 

After a moment or two, Suga lifted his face up and twisted his body to meet Daichi’s questioning glance.

 

“You know what? I could use some time to talk to you.” Suga muttered as he desperately tried to tame the redness on his face by rubbing his fingers down the sides of his cheeks.

 

Daichi stopped tapping on his keys and peered at Suga, urging him to go on.

 

“No. Not right here,” he said, motioning at their cramped up room _(who has, in three years, gained the perpetual smell of coffee and energy drinks)_ , “let’s go out.”

 

“You know for a fact that we are both broke college students, right?”

 

“But I hate being cramped up!” Suga pouted, hazel eyes intent on Daichi’s, “We’ve been dealing with school for weeks and I just need a breather, you know?”

 

“Eating out is okay with me.”

 

“Who said we’re gonna eat out?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

Suga slyly rose from his bed and ran his slender fingers across his soft gray hair, “Well, I was invited to Kuroo’s party and I guess it would be a great opportunity for us to _you know_ , let our hair down for once…”

 

“For once? Have you forgotten whatever happ-” Daichi started to mutter but he stopped himself short while pinching the bridge of his nose.

 

“I am a little bit busy at the moment,” Daichi continued, averting his gaze from his roommate and back to his essay, typing in whatever that comes to his mind--even if the only thing on his mind is Suga being invited by that knavish Kuroo.

 

Daichi was truly against the idea of drinking his wits out on a friday night (specially when he has Saturday afternoon classes and an essay to write),  but it is quite impossible for Daichi to repel Suga’s irresistible charms. So ten minutes after saving up his work and shutting down his laptop, he ended up lazily swiveling on his armchair watching Suga decide on his clothes.

 

Suga puffed out of annoyance, “I really couldn’t pick between these two!”

 

Daichi tore his gaze out of Suga’s nape and looked over the two articles of clothing; one was a red button up and the other is a white sweatshirt with black sleeves. To his honest opinion, either of the tops will look well on Suga, but he hasn’t seen Suga wear a button up in ages.

 

“You’d look dapper either way,” mid-sentence, Daichi changes his mind. _He really wants to see Suga try out that red button up._ He thought. “But the red one is slightly better.”

 

Daichi then, rose his gaze to meet Suga’s, to his surprise, Suga’s face matched that of a crimson shade, making him wonder if he said anything wrong to offend Suga.

 

Daichi’s eyebrow cocked up a little bit in wonder, “Did I say something wrong?”

 

Suga blinked back frantically and then shook his head furiously. “A-Ah no. Yeah everything’s fine,” he stammered as he threw the sweatshirt back to his closet in a frenzied manner. “I’ll just go and change.”

 

Before Daichi could swivel back so that he could not see Suga change, he realized that he froze in place as he watched Suga grab the hem of his shirt with slender fingers and hike them up his body, revealing his porcelain skin and the wide arch of his back.

 

Blood rushed to Daichi’s face before he could even analyze what was actually happening. _Yes_ , he had seen Suga change in front of him for ages. Being in the same volleyball team for three years and being his roommate for three years too did not really warrant the either of them such privacy--but something shifted and changed inside of Daichi during the winter break that he couldn’t even stop looking at Suga _now_. Seeing Suga change in front of him did place a pleased feeling on his gut; but his heart is hammering like crazy on his chest that he’s afraid he’s going to burst from the feeling of elation flooding his veins right now.

 

Before Suga could see how the simple act of changing his clothes in front of him had turned Daichi into a blushing mess, he excused himself to go ahead outside and said before closing the door shut, “I-I’ll go get the bicycle ready,”

 

Daichi trudged his way down the stairwells just as he heard Suga’s own footsteps trailing him. Within a minute or so, he caught up to him and they were walking shoulder to shoulder down two the stairwell.

 

Suga looked up at him teasingly, “I thought you didn’t want to go? Why’d you leave before me, then?”

 

Daichi, in return, shook his head with a smile and fished the keys out of his pockets as they were approaching the dormitory’s bicycle parking spot. It took him more time than necessary to look for his bicycle, it is a bit dark around this part of the area.

 

He unlocked his bicycle’s lock and removed it from its parking space. He rose his right leg up and plopped down, waiting for Suga’s familiar weight on the back of his bicycle. Soon enough, Suga’s arms were snugly placed on Daichi’s waist, Suga’s body a few degrees warmer than his.

 

Daichi, now hyper aware of where Suga’s skin is in contact with his, started his pedaling in an erratic manner. For a few times, he wobbled and faltered whenever he feels Suga’s breath against his nape, making him breathless and dizzy--almost to the extent that his eyesight felt tunneled and all of his senses are dimmed save for his touch.

 

Luckily, they didn’t die or hit anything on their way to Kuroo’s apartment. Truth be told, this is like the second time the either of them had been in there, both situations ended up with the two of them heavily intoxicated and hungover the next day.

 

He parked his bicycle by a bush and then they made their way to Kuroo’s doorstep. Loud bass and several cheers emerged from the small crevice of the windows, eliciting a dreadful sigh from Daichi.

 

The door cracked a few inches open to reveal Kuroo, with his perpetual state of ugly bed head and sleepy eyes. Kuroo, at the sight of his high school volleyball rivals, opened the door wider, his smile just as welcoming as it could ever be.

 

“I never thought that the two of you would come by,” Kuroo winked after thrusting a cup of cheap beer on Daichi’s hand, “specially after all the drunken shenanigans the two of you have been up to.”

 

Suga sighed and took a sharp intake of breath, “So you’ve seen Kei’s post, alright.”

 

“So have the rest of my previous team.” Kuroo contended as he pushed the two of them inside the stuffy room and leading them towards the bar, “I just couldn’t believe that after all these years, you’re finally together.”

 

Daichi drank from his cup and set it down the countertop, “We’ve always been together, just not in the way you guys were assuming.” He motioned for Kuroo to pour him more. “We’re just friends. Still are.”

 

“I just can’t understand why you’re pushing it to be anything more,” Suga emphasized in agreement as he took a fresh cup of cocktail from Kuroo.

 

“I’m just saying that the two of you would make a _bangin’_ couple,” Kuroo pointed as he popped open himself a can of cherry cola and backed away from the bar.

 

Kuroo talked to a guest and then whipped back his face to the two of them before disappearing into a sea of bodies. “If I were Daichi, I’d date you Suga-san.”

 

“Good thing he isn’t you.”

 

“Why would you say that?”

“He is a sleazeball, I wouldn’t want to date him,” Suga murmured with a slight pout. With that, Daichi laughed and drank himself some more beer.

 

“To sleazeball with ugly bed heads,” Daichi quoted as he rose his cup for a toast with Suga.

 

“To asshats,” Suga’s cup made contact with Daichi’s and they downed their cups wholeheartedly.

  
  
  
  


After telling Suga to stand by, (Daichi felt the great need to use to restroom to the point that he had to cross his legs in discomfort) and successfully use the restroom without any delay, it was to his greatest demise, to find his heavily intoxicated roommate dancing to whatever electronic beat Kuroo had on.

 

Daichi, being the man that he is, didn’t really want to take Suga away from dancing for he saw how happy the other man looked. Plus, he felt quite intrigued by how Suga seemed to have so much fun waltzing around and bopping his entire body out to song. Though extremely funny (for Suga is, to without an end, a pretty bad dancer) Daichi felt warm and giddy as he fondly watched his best friend dance. It’s just that everything about Suga looked beautiful and enchanting in that moment; and who he is but to stare at such a dazzling spectacle?

 

“Daichi!” Suga shouted, urging Daichi towards the dancefloor. “You’d want to dance to _this_.”

 

Daichi just smiled and him and shook his head. Out of all the things in this world, dancing and cooking are the things he’s horribly bad at.

 

When Daichi wouldn’t budge from his seat, Suga stopped dancing and practically dragged Daichi across the room to the dancefloor, earning quite a few cheers from the spectators.

 

“Suga!” Daichi tried to chide him, “You know that I’m bad at dancing!”

 

“I, myself is a bad dancer, too.” Suga slurred, “Does that stop me from dancing? No!”

 

Daichi, red from embarrassment, tried to stop Suga from grooving all around him by practically forcing himself out of his vice-like grip.

 

“Oh c’mon now Daichi! We came here to have a good time! Don’t be such a wet blanket!”

 

“Out of all the things you can ask me to do,” Daichi pleaded, “just don’t make me dance.”

 

Suga starts blowing raspberries in the midst of their tirade, not giving Daichi the chance to escape. “You are gonna dance with me whether you like it or not.”

 

Daichi, out of resignation, (moreover he doesn’t want Suga to be upset, especially now that he’s got that soft red glow on his cheeks and he couldn’t help but stare at how beautifully flushed Suga looks like) started to tap his feet to beat of the music, earning a few approving hoots from Suga.

 

Though they kept on bumping their shoulders and stepping on each other’s foot, Daichi truly felt like having a good time after such a long time, to the point that he and Suga are laughing until their cheeks are hurting.

 

“Hey I-” Suga was cut short by Daichi’s curse as cold beer drenched his body. Apparently, someone spilled an entire cup’s worth of beer down Daichi’s body.

 

The two of them moved out of the dance floor and Suga inspected the mess made by the spilled drink. He clicked his tongue in disappointment as he made Daichi turn around for quite a few times. Finally, he breathed out and said, “We have to go home,”

 

Daichi, out of his own relief (it was past one in the morning already), agreed in a flash. He didn’t want to bother Kuroo for a fresh change of clothes and if they were to party more, he’d be too drunk to bike all the way back to their dormitory.

 

In no time, the two of them were already out into the night, combing through the bushes for Daichi’s bicycle. After a few attempts and few other bushes thoroughly rummaged, Daichi found his bicycle the exact way they left it. Suga however, found a new thing.

 

“A kitty?” Daichi asked as he moved towards Suga.

 

Suga, with his new found baby animal looked at Daichi with sad eyes. “We couldn’t leave her here! She’ll freeze to death!”

 

“You know that we’re not allowed to have pets in the dorm, right?”

 

“I know but,” Suga pleaded, his voice quivering, “she’ll die, Daichi! She’ll die!”

 

“Suga as much as I want to,” he started to say sternly, but before he could finish his sentence, Suga was already sobbing. “Are you actually crying right now?”

 

“You know that I couldn’t control my emotions when I’m piss-drunk, Daichi!”

 

“I never knew that you’d cry about a kitty,”

 

“It’s a dying kitty, Daichi,” he emphasized, “A dying kitty.”

 

Daichi couldn’t help but be bewildered by Suga at that moment. How could someone be so compassionate and as endearing at the same time? Something inside Daichi twisted at the sight of Suga gently cooing a kitty in the dead of the night. If it were for this, he’d gladly break the rules and bend his own will.

 

“Alright, alright. Let’s adopt her.” Daichi mumbled, feeling of hopelessness against Suga’s charms occupying his mind.

 

“Oh, one more thing,” Suga started to say, not tearing his gaze from the small cat. “I left my coat at our dorm.”

 

“What?!” Daichi yelped in surprise. He didn’t expect Suga to forget his coat. Moreover, why didn’t he notice? He mentally kicked himself for not being more aware of Suga.

 

“It flew straight out of my mind when I chased you down the stairs.” Suga sobbed dejectedly.

 

Daichi removed his coat and then placed it on Suga’s shoulders. He cupped Suga’s cheeks by his hands and wiped the tears with his thumbs. _It’s the least that I could do._  He thought. “C’mon now, you’ll get a cold if we keep on standing here.”

 

Suga nodded dejectedly and then placed the scarf on the basket and then bundled the kitty with it, giving it temporary warmth. He also slid his arms inside the coat’s sleeves and propped himself on the back of the bicycle after Daichi placed his right feet on the pedal.

 

“Are you alright now?” Daichi whispered as he blazed through the cold streets. The kitty mewled softly before Suga could respond.

 

“Mmm bit sleepy I suppose,” Suga whispered as he nestled his warm face on Daichi’s neck.

 

The touch of Suga’s face on his nape brought a cold shiver down his spine. Happy, yet restless feelings bolted through his gut. It took him so much control not to careen off to the side of the road and crash into a tree. He never knew that Suga could make him restless yet so enthused.

 

He pedaled even faster so that he could take Suga home immediately. He pumped air from his lungs and breathed in the cold air in and out of his lungs. In no time, he was already coming to a slow stop as he tried to search where he could park the bike on. Suga stepped off the bike and grabbed the cat gently out of the basket and rubbed circles along its small head just as Daichi was finishing up its lock.

 

Together, they mounted the stairs in a slow pace as Suga was already half-asleep and way too intoxicated to move around fast enough. With a sluggish pace, the two of them finally reached their room. After Daichi opened up their room, Suga went straight to the space heater and propped the kitty a safe distance from it.

 

He then removed Daichi’s coat and gave it to him. He also started to change out of his street clothes to his pajamas; but this time, Daichi already had his back before he could lose his own mind.

 

After Suga practically passes out on his bed, Daichi then proceeded to take a hot shower to at least remove the stench of beer from his body. He scrubbed and washed his body until the water ran cold.

 

Upon returning, Suga is on his bed half-asleep, the kitty sitting slovenly on his arms.

 

To Daichi’s best judgment, he flicked the lights off and then started tucking Suga down so that he could sleep comfortably. Suga stops him mid-way and clutches his hands with so little force that Daichi almost didn’t feel it.

 

“Sleep with me,” Suga murmured, brows furrowed and eyes fluttering, trying to keep awake.

 

“What?” Daishi whispered in shock. _Suga is definitely out of his goddamn mind._ He said to himself.

 

“I mean, go under the covers with me and provide this kitty some warmth.” Suga weakly laughed, hand slipping from Daichi’s as he tried to scoot over, making more room for Daichi.

 

Daichi, compelled to do as requested, yet at the same time felt torn if he should or should not. Seeing that if he does so, his face would be six inches away from Suga--and he doesn’t know if he could handle being _that_ close to him.

 

Then, he felt a slight tug as Suga pulled lightly on his pinky, asking him to comply. Reluctantly, Daichi stuffed himself under the covers and asked Suga lightly if it’s warm enough.

 

“It is, as long as you’re with me.” Suga muttered, a ghost of a smile tainting his face.

 

Daichi felt like he was going to ignite at Suga’s words. His face, mere inches away from him felt extremely enamoring in the soft moonlight and it takes everything in Daichi not to touch the creases and iron them with his own fingers. Something inside of him is telling him to get closer, until no space remains---the other telling him to run. Run from this wildfire engulfing his body every time he gets a bit closer to Suga.

 

But for now; he stays.

  
  
  


“I can’t believe you actually caught a cold,” a voice beside him mumbled, his hand carefully placed on Daichi’s forehead, gauging whether his temperature is higher than the normal.

 

Daichi sneezed and fluttered his eyelids open, seeing Suga with his grey hair soft and fluffed up from sleep. Golden sunlight streamed through the window, creating an aureate glow all around him. His breath hitches from his throat as he wondered how someone could still look this flawless early into the morning.

 

Slowly, he smiled shyly at Suga, and said, “Your hair looks pretty,”

 

Suga’s eyes widened at Daichi’s bluntness in the morning. He took his hand away from Daichi’s forehead and chuckled, “Your hair is sticking out at every possible direction,”

 

“You’re always so terse, Suga. I was complimenting you.”

 

“There’s no time to compliment me when you’re obviously sick,” Suga deadpanned as he leapt over Daichi to leave the bed, kitty on hand. “I should get you some medicine.”

 

Suga placed the small cat over his desk and then moved over the cupboards. He searched for his first aid kit and then found some cough suppressants and paracetamol. After filling a glass of water, he made his way over Daichi’s figure, which seemed to be in the midst of sneezing and coughing. Daichi’s face immediately relaxed when he saw Suga crouching down, medicine on his hands.

 

Suga then, froze on his place and then shifted his gaze towards the cat and then back to Daichi, “Don’t tell me you’re allergic to cats,”

 

Daichi rolled to his side and faced him, he grimaced, “As much as it pains me to admit, I am not.”

 

“Why would that even be painful for your part?” Suga sneered,  as he took the empty glass from Daichi’s quivering ones.

 

He sank deeper beneath the sheets, “We’re breaking several dorm regulations for keeping her here.”

 

Suga’s lips puckered, “You’re heartless Daichi,” the cat purred reassuringly.

 

“Oh, before I forget. Can you print out and pass my essay for me? I don’t think I can get up for my afternoon classes.” Daichi requested, his hand promptly raising up from the quilt and then pointing out his laptop.

 

“How could I say no?” Daichi fell asleep promptly after that.

  
  


A week after Daichi’s predicament, the two of them were back into shape. Daichi is spending more and more time preparing for his mock business proposal even though it’s just mid-winter. He urged himself to get ahead on this task since it encompasses half of his grades on a particular subject for the finals. Piles upon piles of project plans from the previous years and sticky notes covered every inch of Daichi’s side of the room. Sometimes, Daichi’s readings would get mixed up with Suga and it causes a slight conundrum inside their room.

 

One day, when Daichi was halfway from entering heaven’s gate himself for the preparing for his midterms the next day, he nonchalantly asked Suga if they could spend some time in the library across town. Suga’s eyes gleamed out of happiness and he told Daichi that he had been meaning to get out of this hellhole ( _hellhole meaning their room, wherein the two of them have been cooped up from weeks on end_ ).

 

( “I‘ve been meaning to tell you this, Daichi,” Suga mumbled as he slid his highlighter meticulously over his readings.

 

Daichi hummed in acknowledgement, “What?”

 

Suga stopped and then returned the highlighter’s cap, “After all this time, you’re still such a good friend to me,”

 

He halted scribbling down and then lifted up his face to see Suga’s face. He was grinning, eyes all crinkly and upturned, cheeks blooming, and at that moment, Daichi couldn’t help but be enchanted by how beautiful he looks.

 

He felt that if he were to compare Suga’s beauty at that moment, he’d come up with empty hands and a dry mouth. He knew that if he described him, he’d run out of words without even saying one. It’s just that something about Suga leaves him speechless yet so smitten; and he knew that he would do anything just to see him smile that way again.)

 

There are so many things that Daichi were starting to notice about Suga recently. Daichi started watching him closely whenever he can. He’d steal sideward glances and stare at him for a minute too long. Sometimes, Suga would catch him and he’d stare and Daichi and grin (Daichi feels his heart stutter whenever their eyes meet unexpectedly).

 

He also started noticing the smallest details around Suga. For one, his eyebrows furrow in the slightest of emotions, or whenever he’s talking to people. He started to see Suga in a different perspective; as if watching him on a different light. Where his laughs were sacred and his beauty is paralyzing.

 

Watching Suga made him memorize the way his lips curl or whenever he would start getting annoyed. He noticed these tiny bits of Suga that for certain, a mosaic of mannerisms and snapshots of his smiles were already burned in the back of his head.

 

He wonders if Suga memorized him the way he knows him. Something in his gut wishes he does.

  
  


By nine in the evening, when the flutter of books and the hushed chatter has died down, Daichi asked if Suga would want to go home already. Something about the word home made Suga’s ears perk up and eyes brighten.

 

“I think we had enough studying to ace our tests tomorrow,” Suga huffed as he wrapped his things up, jamming papers on every crevice he could see.

 

Daichi closed his laptop and carefully placed it inside his bag, “I can’t wait to go home for spring,”

 

“Me, too. I miss the team already.”

 

“There’s nothing like home isn’t it?”

 

Suga exhaled slowly and then zipped his bag up, paused for a while and said, “Yeah.”

 

On the ride back home, Suga asked if he could use Daichi’s arms to catch a snooze for a few minutes. Before the taller man could reply, he felt Suga’s soft hair tickle the side of his neck, the faint smell of cinnamon and old books capturing Daichi’s sense of smell.

 

Daichi breathed out and then looked at the city lights by the window and leaned lightly on Suga’s head.

 

 _I could stay like this forever_. He said to himself.

 

Then he couldn’t help but wonder if there could be any way to keep this moment just like this--even for just for a minute longer.

  
  


"You won't believe it," Suga squealed after the blasting the door wide open, a paper bag of piping hot steamed buns on his other hand.  
  
Daichi removed his head from his arm and then turned to face his roommate. Suga gave him a piece of steamed bun before sinking his teeth into it. Without any pause or whatsoever, he went on with his story.  
  
"I don't know what magic that library has but I aced all of my midterms," he boasted before taking in another bite.  
  
Daichi raised his right eyebrow and bit into his food. Mouth suddenly full of gooey meat and sauce. He groaned in delight.  
  
"I knew you were gonna ace it all, library or not." Daichi said approvingly.  
  
Suga smirked at him, "You're not the only one who's genius enough, Daichi."  
  
The two of them suddenly burst into peals of laughter, Suga's laugh is soft, punctuated by Daishi's booming one. Warmth engulfed his chest and spread like wildfire as he can't help his adoration for Suga's spontaneity.  
  
Like muscle memory, he reached for Suga's hair and ruffled it, fingers clinging to its soft strands.  
  
"Since you aced it," Daichi said, tugging softly against Suga's scalp as he tried to run his fingers on other areas, "I'll treat you when we go back home after the finals."  
  
Without warning or whatsoever, Daichi started seeing a pink glow tinting Suga's cheeks. Without thought, he stopped himself and patted his head twice before dropping his hand, excusing himself to go on and continue reading his book.  
  
Suga, did not miss the chance to try and dispel the awkwardness that seemed to stuff the room. He decidedly coughed and darted across the room to throw the paper bag away. He also started busying himself with the dishes and hummed away, the flush on his cheeks still glowing rather hotly.

 

Before the room could grow stuffier, three sets of knocks on their door took the two of them out of their own headspace. Suga rinsed his hands in a hurry and then opened up the door to reveal two familiar faces.  


“Tadashi-kun?” Suga blurted out in surprise, he turned his head to the side and saw a taller figure, “Kei-kun? I didn’t expect the two of you!”

 

“Before you get any idea,” Kei mumbled, hands firm against the door, “it was Tadashi’s idea.”

 

Tadashi smiled cheekily at the mention of his name.

 

Suga noted this as his cue and then happily made way for the two of them before the door. Daichi also made it is mission to greet the two of them before he felt something slink against his legs. He suddenly jerked in surprise before he could even ask why the two of them visited.

 

Kitty-chan ( _an unfortunate name caused by the two's lack of imagination_ ) slyly slithered her way to meet Kei’s foot. Her curious eyes roved over the tall figure and pawed against his black socks. The cat’s action made both Tadashi and Suga coo.

 

Kei pushed his glasses up with his middle finger, “A cat?” he picked the cat up and stared at it with much intensity.

 

“Aren’t pets prohibited in the dorms?” Tadashi piped up as he inspected the cat while Kei rubbed its small body.

 

Suga hushed the younger boy and changed the topic, “Isn’t she the cutest?”

 

“We found her the other month. Suga wanted to keep her,” Daichi uttered as he rubbed his face out of habit, “I mean who could resist her, right?”

 

“So are you implying that Kitty-chan found her way into your empty heart?” Suga feigned surprise, all traces of their awkward encounter thrown into the back of his mind.

 

Daichi gazed at Suga and staged sadness, gripping at his chest for better effect, “After all, Kitty-chan is the only thing that makes me hold on to my life,”

 

Kei smirked and rested the cat on his lap, “Did you seriously name your cat Kitty-chan?”

 

Tadashi tugged at Kei’s arm, trying to reprimand him silently. With that, the two dissolved into laughter, even clutching at their stomachs for support.

 

“We thought it would be a good name to name her,” Suga started saying in the midst of each laugh, “we were drunk and drowning with schoolwork that even a decent cat’s name could not be conjured up by our minds.”

 

“We?” Tadashi screeched, “Drunk? Tell us the whole story!”

 

Daichi sighed and started to turn away from the younger ones. “Please, exclude me from that horrifying narrative.”

 

Suga rolled his eyes and then sat on Daichi’s bed which was propped adjacent to where the Tadashi and Kei sat. He started recounting the night in sporadic bursts of details, some of which were not even chronological in order. Once he was starting to get to the end of the story, Daichi swiveled back into place where he could see everyone.

 

“Not to be a jerk but I think you made Daichi-san sick,” Kei nonchalantly said. As if on cue, the cat purred.

 

“Now c’mon, he didn’t mean to leave his coat,” Daichi came to Suga’s defense, putting his right hand on his shoulder, “I think he felt the need the rush since I left a bit early.”

 

Tadashi, being the sap that he is, nodded with his eyebrows furrowed up in concern. He even asked if Daichi’s already feeling well, which lead him to suddenly remembering why they went here.

 

“Oh,” he pulled out his phone from his pocket and showed an e-mail to the two of them, “Ukai-san said that the party for him will be moved three days after we go home.”

 

Daichi and Suga read the e-mail and saw Ukai-san’s message. He relayed that he will be out of town on the day of his actual birthday so he decided to move up the celebration since he really wanted to meet the former team for a friendly drink. The e-mail also reiterated that Takeda-sensei, Yachi, and Kiyoko will be there.

 

(“That would be so great!” Suga beamed as he reread the entire e-mail. “But why didn’t he just message Daichi, then?”

 

“He wanted to keep this as a surprise to the two of you until after the midterms. He knew that you would be busy studying so he didn’t want to bother you both for the meantime.” Kei responded.)

 

As the night went on, the four of them catched up with stories of their university life. At one point, the four of them watched a movie per Suga’s request.

 

(“Hey do you have anything going on right now?” Suga asked as Tadashi and Daichi were creating a batch of instant ramen for the four of them.

 

Tadashi whipped his face to meet Suga’s, “No, nothing really,”

 

Tadashi barely stopped talking before Suga said, “Then let’s watch a movie before the two of you go!”)

 

By the time the credits were rolling, the one who requested to watch the movie fell prey to the tempting hands of sleep. Daichi (whose bed became the area where Suga sprawled into) flickered a lamp’s light on and thanked Kei and Tadashi for dropping by.

 

(“You know that you could always drop by anytime,” Daichi whispered, careful not to wake Suga up as he followed the boys out of the room.

 

“Oh, we wouldn’t want to bother the both of you!” Tadashi smiled coyly as he rubbed the back of his head.

 

Daichi curled his mouth downwards and said, “You didn’t bother us, though.”

 

“Tadashi thought we bothered you in the middle of something before we went in,” Kei puffed as the freckled boy rolled his eyes at him.

 

“What do you mean by that?”

 

“We just noticed that you were staring intently at Suga-san.” Tadashi tried to clear up as he wound up his scarf on his neck.

 

“And when you weren’t looking, Suga-san was looking at you the same way.” Kei concluded; leaving Daichi with the feeling of sand on his mouth and a heavy weight pressing against his heart and his ribcage.

 

Unbeknownst to Daichi, Tadashi and Kei’s words unraveled something on the back of his mind. Time could only tell until he would come to face with the truth he has been trying to deny all the time.)

  


It was early March before Suga and Daichi noticed that the winter season has come to an end. Soon, the harsh cold ebbed away into gradual warmth and color. The once monotonous landscape of whites and blacks were now filled with the budding colors of light green and gentle sunlight as the snow started to melt. The bare trees started growing buds and people were starting to grow accustomed to trading their heavy coats to lighter ones. Seasonal allergies also swept the university’s populace when the flowers started to bloom halfway through the month.

 

Luckily for Daichi, he wasn’t able to catch the whiff of seasonal allergies. He mostly kept to himself and studied more intensively for the finals as it started to approach at a breakneck speed. He spent more and more time creating and editing his write-ups, reviewing for his past lessons, and providing himself with basic self-care.

 

Suga, on the other hand, went for a more laid-back approach. He spent most of his time balancing the early spring festivities and studying for the upcoming finals. He usually leaves his roommates to his own devices and goes out with his other circles of friends. Sometimes he’d leave the dorm to Daichi studying and come back to see him in the same position--this time with copious amounts of caffeine flowing through his system.

 

By the time the finals week rolled in, Daichi was given the final date for his mock business proposal. He was full-blown nervous about the whole ordeal since he was pretty much curating this project for almost four months. He spent most of his free time writing and reading everything he could just to make the presentation impeccable.

 

“You know you have like six more hours until the presentation, right?” Suga groaned from beneath his quilt at eight in the morning, as he was woken up by Daichi’s frantic scurrying and paces across the tiny dorm room.

 

Suga stretched his limbs and hooked the quilt under his arms as he tried to blink the blurred silhouette of a completely agitated Daichi.

 

“Seeing you so jumpy in the morning is such a great way to start the day,” he yawned while he blinked back more to focus on his roommate’s face.

 

Daichi stopped his pace and then stood akimbo adjacent to Suga. He then placed his chin on his fist after a few seconds. He opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again, “I am going to fail miserably today,”

 

“What makes you so sure that you’re going to fail?” Suga snorted at the taller man.

 

“The panel is really strict and they might find the smallest loophole and then I’d panic and then I’ll never have the cha-” Daichi rambled as he continued his pace, pivoting whenever he’d reach both ends of the room.

 

Suga shushed him and then sat up from his bed. He gingerly placed his palms on his lap and then started to calm him down.

 

“Look, Daichi,” Suga started to say, “I have read the final paper and rest assured it is one of the most outstanding I have read since the dawn of time. You need not to worry.”

Daichi stopped and then sucked on his lower lip in hesitation, still on the edge of his nerves.

 

“I believe that you will do your best,” Suga’s eyes darted to Daichi’s, “you’ve always been the best at whatever you do.”

 

Something about Suga’s words sent a comforting shiver down Daichi’s spine. The nervousness that has been wracking his system for hours subsided a bit and calmed down. He took Suga’s words into consideration and tried to push himself into thinking more logically.

 

“I’m just,” he puckered, “really worried, you know?”

 

“Because?” Suga urged.

 

“Because I have been working on this for months! If I fail after all that preparation, what would become of me?” He sighed exasperatedly, hands shot up into the air in utter frustration.

 

Suga flashed him with a stern look. “Trust me. You are going to walk out of that presentation hall with the best marks. The panel knows that you worked really hard for this and they wouldn’t let such a hardworking student fail.”

 

Daichi shifted uncomfortably, though warmth spread through his guts. He ended up evading the topic altogether. “You’re sounding more and more like a teacher nowadays, huh?”

 

The other boy seemed to be taken aback by Daichi’s words. His lips parted as he tried to comprehend Daichi’s words.

 

“Really?” he said, “Have I been like that?”

 

“Oh, it was a compliment.”

 

“Dumbass, of course I took it as a compliment,” he chimed, “I wasn’t expecting to hear that from you”

 

“I notice a lot of things about you,” Daichi felt his cheeks go fervid. He mentally kicked himself and then started cursing at the back of his tongue. He also wanted to go dig a grave for himself and finally lay there for the rest of his short, sad life.

 

Suga hummed in surprise and chortled back at him, “You’re such a puzzle sometimes, Daichi. “

 

(But of course he is. He feels like a puzzle because he feels incomplete. There are gaps inside of him and shifting gears that never seemed to click into place. He feels a certain longing for a certain something. It’s been ages since he had the strength to work around with the feelings in his chest, but there is something that’s still missing. God forbid he’s just waiting for it. Waiting for the sign that will point him to where he needs to be. Where his missing parts lay.)

  
  


“A green tie or a red tie?”

 

“Are you trying to attend a goddamn Christmas party, Daichi?”

 

Daichi blew air into his cheeks and rolled his eyes, “ No. I’m attending the funeral of my dignity.”

 

Suga rolled his eyes and then closed his right eye as he toyed around with the ties. The both of them has been standing for ten minutes arguing for the perfect tie. Suga says Daichi’s choices are too uptight, Daichi says Suga’s choices are too extraordinary.

 

“Why can’t we just reach for a compromise?’ Daichi suggested as Suga hovered a yellow and violet striped tie in front of his dress shirt.

 

“A compromise?” Suga laughed at him. “We never seem to meet in the middle. Our opinions are always way too far from each other.”

 

Daichi felt like choking at the blow Suga’s words had on him. “We’re always gonna be stuck on this spot where we argue about ties, right?”

 

The smaller boy hummed in affirmation, a dark blue with silver-gray stripes accenting it. He motioned for the tie and Daichi smiled at him.  “I think we’ve reached our compromise.”

 

He felt Suga loop the tie around his neck and then tucked it underneath the collar. He also started making loops and he made elaborate twists and turns, ending up with the perfect tie that matches Daichi in the most beautiful way.

 

Daichi turned around to face the mirror, feeling the tie with his forefinger and thumb. He took the liberty to breathe in wide intervals, filling up his lungs slowly with oxygen. Suga’s hand patted him lightly on his shoulders and rubbed it loosely, working on the knots that have formed its way on Daichi’s posture.

 

Neither of them spoke, because at that moment, they both felt like they didn’t have to.

  
  


Per Suga’s intuition, the business proposal went without a hitch. Daichi looked extremely confident with the way he handled the questions, he even prepared some jokes to lighten up the situation--completely different from the anxious mess he was in a few hours prior to the presentation.

 

By the end of the presentation, the audience erupted into a set of polite claps and positive murmur. The panel and his adviser also commented that his proposal was curated perfectly, making him blush a bright red after receiving compliments from all over the place.

 

After the frenzy died down of having to catch up and thank his acquaintances, he set his way to meet Suga outside the hall. The smaller boy’s face was painted with so much happiness that he almost jumped at Daichi the moment their eyes met.

 

“You were perfect back there!” Suga wheedled as they walked their way down the hall, his arms clutching his own books.

 

“I practically blacked out in front,” Daichi bashfully said, “I just said what I have practiced for so long, you know?”

 

“And the jokes were?” Suga trailed off.

 

“Yes, they were practiced too,” he murmured apologetically, “I’m not good at spontaneous humor.”

 

Suga’s mouth gaped open in surprise, “They were really funny!”

 

“I had like twenty back-up jokes for certain situations,” he continued, “I just had to wait for the perfect time to crack them.”

 

The smaller boy laughed. He knew that Daichi was hell-bent into giving his all for this presentation. He saw him spend more time than necessary just to know everything he could about the topic. There were several sleepless nights that led up to this success, and something in him couldn’t help but swell in pride whenever he sees Daichi bask in the fruits of his labor.

 

“You know what,” Suga suggested after he positioned himself in front of Daichi, blocking the taller man’s way, “why don’t we eat ice cream at our room and spend the night watching your favorite movies?”

 

Daichi’s eyes lit up in surprise, “I thought you’d want to have a drink for this,”  


Suga laughed and then went back to Daichi’s side, “Who says we wouldn’t drink?”

 

“What?” he said quizzically.

 

Suga winked at Daichi and then slyly, he said, “Let’s just say that I got this awesome vodka from Kuroo the other day,”

 

Daichi shook his head in disbelief and then linked his arm to Suga’s arm, pulling the smaller boy closer to him. “Don’t throw up on me, okay?”

  
  


Suga pressed play and music played from the speakers, some random song that has been really popular nowadays. Daichi pressed his palms against his eyes as he grimaced at the last shot he has taken. Now he realized why Suga wanted to buy ice cream; they would have the worst hangover tomorrow based on the volume of alcohol they are consuming right now.

 

“This drinking game is stupid,” Daichi croaked, throat rough with his last shot.

 

“Ha?” Suga inarticulately replied, “This is a great way to gauge on who is the better friend between the two of us!”

 

“You’re asking me impossible things! How would I know how many moles you have in your body?” Daichi exasperatedly breathed, “I only know one!”

 

“As a matter of fact I have three,” his hands pouring a fresh shot on their sole glass, “one on my face,” he pointed at it, “on my neck,” he motioned at it, “and the other is a secret.”

 

Daichi, unexplainably disappointed that Suga would hide a fact about himself replied, “Why won’t you tell me?”

 

“You need not to know where it is located, dumbass.” he pointed at the glass, “Your turn.”

 

He set himself into a better sitting position and then propped his back onto his bedframe. He said, “What’s the name of my first pet?”

 

Suga shot him a dirty look, “That’s unfair,” he paused, “you do not have any pets.”

 

Daichi raised his right eyebrow, “Are you sure?”

 

After the other boy nodded, Daichi, keeping the smile hidden from his face, pushed the shot glass to Suga, relishing the disbelief spreading through his face.

 

“Isn’t Kitty-chan my first pet?” He teased, the cat in question purring softly behind Suga.

 

Suga wrapped his finger around the shot glass and then downed it quickly, scrunching up his face after the alcohol burned through his throat.

 

“Hey isn’t this the song for our school dance?” Daichi mentioned, pointing at Suga’s speakers.

 

Suga’s ears perked up as he listened to the song, recognizing the song’s slow, soft melody. He remembered that the dance was an event that the seniors had before graduating, as far as he knows, he danced with the class Kiyoko when this played.

 

He turned to Daichi and then asked, “Did you dance with someone to this song?”

 

“No.”

 

Suga blinked and then extended his right hand to Daichi. He watched as Daichi’s face met his, silently asking why he was doing so.

 

“Then dance with me.” Suga mumbled, hand still extended.

 

Daichi, who is terribly tipsy and completely bewildered by Suga’s actions did not hesitate to take his hand. When the two of them were facing each other, Suga took Daichi’s right hand and then placed it on the small of his back.

 

“Do you even know how to dance?” Suga asked as he waited for Daichi start moving.

 

Daichi, completely taken aback and frozen at the warmth of Suga’s back is against his palm, did not even process Suga’s words before the smaller boy tugged him sidewards, trying to get him to move.

 

“In case you’re wondering,” he murmured, clenching Daichi’s hands tighter against his. “I’m just giving you the chance to relive your high school memories.”

 

But Daichi is on another plane of existence right now. All he could think of is his proximity to Suga, and the way that his legs feel like they have turned into jelly, rendering his motor skills useless. He let Suga take his hand and guide him. They waltzed slowly to the sound, turning every once and a while to avoid bumping into any furniture.

 

His neck felt really hot and his eyes were averted from Suga’s inquisitory gaze. He kept his eyes trained on his forehead while he chided himself to keep the beating of his heart at a minimum. His heart was beating so loudly that he was afraid that Suga could hear it from that distance.

 

“Hey,” Suga whispered in an erratic voice, “look at me.”

 

Daichi slowly did. His eyes moving down from his forehead to meet Suga’s hazel eyes. His eyes shone like sunlight and moved with fluidity like honey. But there was something more to his eyes; describing it felt agonizingly slow and tantalizingly sweet. When he smiles, his eyes twinkle with delight, and warm spools of fire dancing around it.

 

He couldn’t help but whisper this lowly as he leaned in to Suga’s ear, “There is a universe living in your eyes,”

 

Within the universe he found lying on Suga’s eyes, he found fire. He felt that if he touched the fire on Suga’s eyes, he would never be able tame the flames. Something inside of him urges him to burn, burn in the mirth he feels and the excitement that pumps through his veins. It’s whispering to him through the soft spaces of his fingers that were now filled with Suga’s calloused ones.

 

When he touches Suga, he feels alive.

 

He felt entranced by all of the feelings overflowing on his chest. The warmth that he was once so afraid of whenever his eyes meets Suga felt inviting, like the sweet comfort of something that you have been craving for.

 

For once, Daichi felt the gears shifting. The cogs in his brain were spinning at a dizzying speed as he wondered what might have been the reason to this euphoria and immense thirst he feels inside his bones. He let the gears turn crazy as he clutched tighter on Suga’s back, emanating a small yelp of surprise from him.

 

Daichi’s heart goes wild.

 

Then for once, he felt the gears stop cold. The blood on his veins felt wilder, almost burning. He’s afraid that if he gets closer to Suga right now, he would choke at go close the remaining space between them. He’s afraid that if he lets Suga set fire to him, he’d never want to let go of the arms that are holding him now.

 

With debilitation, he let his forehead fall on Suga’s shoulder, their interlocked hands falling against Daichi’s thigh.

 

Daichi feels his heart weigh heavy. He doesn’t know when, or how, or why; but he is for certain that it did happen.

 

That he is, in fact, in love with his best friend.

 

He felt himself work up the courage to tell Suga that he has fallen in love with him. He, has fallen irreplaceable and irreversibly in love with the boy whose eyes were the color of rebirth and destruction, whose palms were soft and fingers calloused, whose only wish is to see him happy.

 

He let himself sag against his shoulders and he pulled Suga closer. He felt scared that if he lets go, he’ll never be able to hold Suga this way again.

  
  
  


By the time their final grades went in, students all around the university started packing up their belongings for the spring break. Daichi, Suga, Kei, and Tadashi had booked their bus trips three weeks prior to their departure, giving them ample time to start tidying up and putting things into boxes.

 

Their third year in college was a pretty difficult year. Academically, they both struggled with the workload and the amount of time they have to juggle in between lectures. The professors and the subjects they had  were very challenging and competitive, leading to several all-nighters and unhealthy consumption of energy drinks just to keep them awake.

 

On other aspects, this school year revealed much about themselves; specially Daichi. Even up to this date, he couldn’t quite wrap his head around the idea of actually _liking_ someone (more so, it was his best friend for heaven’s sake).

 

The ride back home was pretty uneventful. It was comprised of painfully lugging around with their belongings around the city. Among anything else, Daichi spent this three-hour ride to think about _stuff_ . Mainly bouncing around thoughts of school, his family, his personal life, and _well_ , the boy sitting next to him.

 

If he were to recall, he was really fond of Suga even before he started unconsciously liking him. He found peace and happiness whenever he thinks of Suga backing him up even when they were just in high school. This reliability that Suga has was the one that drew him in the most; because even if he feels like the world is about to crash and burn, Suga will always be there, smiling at him, telling him that everything would be alright.

 

Which leads him to his current predicament.

 

After the whole fiasco last week, everything just went back to normal. Though Daichi felt like Suga just dismissed his odd actions as the side effects of being drunk, he felt like he owed him an explanation. Every fibre of Daichi’s being is telling him to just confess and let it all out to Suga, because after all, he doesn’t think it’s right to hide such an important fact from him.

 

He tried of thinking ways to coax the words out of him, but up to this date, his efforts have been naught. He thought that there should be the perfect time to finally say it, just between the two of them, even though there is this huge possibility that his heart would get broken.

 

At last, he came to a great conclusion last night. Tadashi recently e-mailed him the details of Ukai-san’s advanced birthday party, the one that the previous team of Karasuno’s volleyball club would attend. He scanned through the details once again and knew that it would be  better if he straightened out these feelings in his chest before meeting the whole team.

 

A screeching sound pulled Daichi out of his train of thought as the bus came into a halting stop. He pulled out his earphones and then gently nudged the sleeping figure beside him. After Suga roused from his nap, the four of them grabbed their luggage from the overhead compartment and then made a bee-line towards the bus’ doors.

 

“Ah. Home sweet home,” Tadashi beamed after he landed his feet unto the ground, earning a snicker from his friend Kei.

 

Tadashi and Kei went to their own way and diverged paths from Daichi and Suga. The two of them fell in line at the taxi bay with much silence resting thick between them. Neither of them made the move to spark up a conversation, mainly because of the fatigue they both have been dealing with after surviving the finals week of university.

 

After successfully hailing a taxi and riding it, Daichi spoke up.

 

“I’m not used to this silence,”

 

It took Suga a few minutes to respond. “I’m just so tired of uni I just want to sleep for three straight days.”

 

He took a sharp intake of breath and looked out of the window, the city fading into the suburbs. “You know, I’m going to miss you this break.”

 

He felt the man beside him chuckle deeply, “Yeah, I am too.”

 

Daichi sighed and then turned to Suga, “You remember that time when I promised you I’m going to treat you for acing your exams?”

 

Suga hummed in affirmation, his head turned away from Daichi. “Yeah, why?” He faced Daichi and their eyes met.

 

 _Fuck._ It took Daichi a minute or two to respond, “Mind if we go out tomorrow and grab that?”

 

“Hmm. I wouldn’t mind.”

 

Daichi hopes that Suga wouldn’t mind if he spill his guts wide open tomorrow. It’s just that he was planning on confessing tomorrow; if everything goes according to his plan.

  
  


“Good morning to you, grumpy face,” Daichi chirped as he came face to face to Suga’s crumpled up face. It was eight in the morning, and he knows for a fact that Suga stayed up from until five in the morning.

 

It may or may not be because of him.

 

“You pestered me all night and you have the nerve to show up on this ungodly hour?” Suga grumbled as he opened the door wider, letting his friend come in.

 

Daichi scurried to side and started taking his shoes off, “Eight in the morning isn’t an ungodly hour, Suga,”

 

He sighed and then walked ahead of Daichi into the hallway, “It is when I only had like three hours of sleep,”

 

“I brought you coffee though,” Daichi piped back up, catching up on him. His hands clutched on a paper bag.

 

“I’d very much appreciate coffee in liquid form,” he grumbled, fingers on the bridge of his nose. He sat on the couch and then leaned his head back, gray hair matted and spread all over.

 

“It’s no use. I make shitty coffee,” he said, setting the paper bag down on the kitchen table. He made his way back to Suga and then plopped down beside him.

 

Suga caught up immediately, “I thought we’d go out for like lunch or dinner, who the hell treats someone to breakfast?”

 

Daichi beamed, “Me.”

 

“Oh, God. Why did I even agree to this?”

 

“Because you couldn’t resist the idea of being treated by a penny pincher?”

 

“Not when I lose sleep over it.”

 

“Oh come on!” Daichi chided, wrapping his hands around Suga’s arms, pulling his body off of the couch, “I have to tell you something, too.”

 

Suga’s eyes opened slowly to peek at Daichi. His right eyebrow cocked upward in curiosity. Daichi isn’t really the type to do such things. He’s a pretty straightforward man if he would be totally honest to himself.

 

“Huh?” the smaller boy asked, “Why won’t you tell me now?”

 

He smiled, “Because you’re pissed at me and you haven’t had your coffee yet?”

 

Suga dissolved slowly into laughter. His eyes crinkled up and his lips were thrown into a wide grin. The boy shook his head and then stood up, “It’s scary that you know me way too well.”

  


Turns out, Daichi actually _knows_ Suga too well. He knows for a fact that Suga’s favorite breakfast foodstuff are pancakes, bacon, and quality coffee. It just so happens that Daichi had the chance to spot a nondescript diner that serves the best breakfast he had ever tasted in his whole life.

 

The two of them, on their own separate bicycles, rode through the city and wound up in front of the diner after a few minutes. Daichi offered to chain their bikes up together while Suga inspected the diner from the outside.

 

“This place looks dingy,” he murmured, hands stuffed on his pockets.

 

Daichi shivered a bit on the cold morning air and tugged on the chain, making sure it is secure. “Hey, don’t judge the book by its cover,”

 

Suga rolled his eyes at him and motioned his hand at the diner. “Well, I don’t want to die of food poisoning.”

 

The taller boy laughed at Suga’s bravado early in the morning. He grabbed Suga’s arm and then pushed the double doors open.

 

“Just,” he started to tell him, hands firm and a bit imposing, “taste their food before complaining.”

 

Suga sighed, stopping the argument short as Daichi pulled him into the diner’s corner, far from the prying eyes of the customers---if there are any besides the two of them.

 

Daichi made Suga sit facing the wall, and then him opposite to Suga. The smaller boy grabbed the menu and then swung his feet below the table, hitting Daichi’s calf lightly with each kick.

 

“What?” Suga whined as he peered from above the menu, eyes making contact with Daichis.

 

Daichi was pulled out of his trance and then blinked back at him, “Oh, it’s nothing,”

 

“Have you picked something yet?”

 

“Mmm.” he hummed as he gave the menu a once-over. Suga put the menu down and then said, “Pancakes, bacon, and coffee.”

 

Daichi smiled at the familiarity of it. He knew that Suga can get really grumpy in the morning specially if he has less than five hours of sleep. Seeing Suga in this state while being in their hometown is a foreign feeling to him. He almost wanted to apologize for keeping him up the night before.

 

 _Almost_.

 

He motioned for the waitress and then gave her the order. He ordered waffles and orange juice for himself.

 

After that, he turned his gaze back to Sugas crumpled up look. He itched to take his hands from below to table to Suga’s face.

  


He would want to start at the top, flattening the grooves, pressing the creases with his calloused fingertips. He would work in circular motion, fingers moving away from the furrows that crept through his face. Then, he’d graze his cheeks, down to his lips, pushing the pout down softly. Hed let his knuckles graze the hard set of his jaw as he moves toward his chin.

 

But he can’t. _Not right now._

 

“What are you thinking about?” Sugas voice ringed out, clear against the muted sounds of scraping and griddle.

 

“You,” he says, mouth faster than his brain.

 

Suga broke into a forced chuckle, the swing of his legs abruptly ceasing. “You didn’t really meanㅡ”

 

Before Daichi could even retaliate, Suga stopped himself short. Ending the odd lopsided smile forming on his face. He did not even know why Suga stopped, but something in his gut is telling him that this is out of place.

 

Daichi did not hesitate and then filled up the silence. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

 

Suga’s face did not show any reaction. With that, Daichi continued while he fuddled with the paper towel dispenser.

 

“I was meaning to tell you this for ages, you know,” he murmured, “but I never really gave it much of a thought.I think it was because I started seeing you in a different light recently that whenever I look at you, it feels like as if my heart is lodged in my throat.”

 

“I have never really felt that thing before. For God’s sake, you are my best friend. I asked myself repeatedly if what I was feeling was okay.”

 

“Was it?” Suga replied, voice strained, eyes focused everywhere else except on Daichi’s own.

 

Daichi scratched the back of his head, mainly pissed at himself for rambling on and on. “ I don’t know, you tell me.”

 

The other boy chuckled sarcastically, “Daichi who am I to interpret your own feelings?”

 

No one spoke for a minute or two. Even after the waitress served them their piping hot breakfast, no one dared to touch it or even move from their previous position---Daichi’s eyes searching for the familiar hazel of Suga’s, and Suga, his body turned completely away from Daichi, thoughts adrift.

 

Daichi clenched his fists from under the table and tensed his jaw. He couldn’t stand the idea of this rift forming between the two of them. Why couldn’t he say it? Why couldn’t he admit to the person he likes that he is _in fact_ completely and utterly lost and aching for nothing but his love?

 

Before Daichi could even collect his thoughts into a coherent string of words, Suga stood up from his seat, arms stiffly hung on his sides and palms outstretched on the fabric of his pants. He started moving across the linoleum floor, making no noise.

 

Daichi opened his mouth to stop him, completely deprived of the right words to say. He doesn’t know how to stop his best friend from leaving him. He shut his eyes to stop himself from physically grabbing Suga into his arms.

 

“You’re the one who makes me feel whole, Suga. You’re the one that I foolishly like.”

 

Suga did not look back.

  
  
  


**TWO DAYS AFTER**

  
  
  


Daichi felt himself waking up to the sound of a phone call. He doesn’t know what hour it is already, but he had his curtains all drawn up since falling into a vicious cycle of falling asleep whenever he could. He knew that he has lost his track of time since that day.

 

He unlocked his sickeningly bright phone and answered the call. A booming voice erupted from the other side of the line, rousing him up easily.

 

“I swear to God Daichi, if you forgot that I am going to celebrate my birthday today, I am going to break your limbs until you could never play volleyball again.”

 

Drearily, he rubbed his other eye awake and switched his lamp on, illuminating his room with a soft amber glow.

 

“Coach Ukai?” he yawned, body still engulfed by his blanket.

 

The voice broke into peals of laughter, “It’s nice that you still know my name.”

 

Daichi removed the phone from his ear and glanced at the time. It was half past ten in the evening already, and if it weren’t for Coach Ukai’s call, the party would’ve gone unnoticed in the clutter that is his brain for the past few days.

 

“I kind of slept in a bit,” Daichi excused; trying to sound more apologetic. “I’ll be there in half an hour, don’t worry.”

 

“That’s great to hear,” Coach Ukai wondered while voices of his fellow teammates drifted from the speakerphone. “Do you know where Suga is?”

 

A lump formed in Daichi’s throat when he heard Suga’s name. “I believe we haven’t been in touch since we went back home.”

 

Coach Ukai didn’t skip a beat, “Huh? That’s highly unusual.”

 

“Not really,” Daichi tried to divert the topic, “I’m gonna go and get myself ready, Coach.”

 

The other line chirped a quick farewell and then cut off the line. Daichi, on the other hand, felt completely exhausted through their exchange. Every fiber of his existence wished that Suga won’t be there.

 

He doesn’t know what would happen to him if Suga ends up on the same space as he is for the rest of the night.

  


By the time he slid into the raucous party that his friends threw, he was greeted by the smell of grilled barbecue and booze. He found himself hugged and attacked from all angles, starting with Hinata’s loud squeal on his right ear.

 

“We never thought that you’d actually appear,” Yuu exclaimed, pushing away everybody else’s limbs to get a better view of his previous captain.

 

Daichi smiled softly at his words and then patted down the unruly tangle that is Yuu’s hair. It was kind of refreshing to see him with his usual gelled up look. This kind of memory tugged a wider smile on his lips.

 

“I was still recovering from how hard this semester was,” he lied, taking a seat beside Chikara and Takeda-sensei.

 

A red cup filled with cheap beer was handed to him by Ryu, he then mumbled a small thank you and placed the cup down the table, not really wanting to be intoxicated at the moment. He thought to himself that small talk and polite smiles should make him get through the entire night.

 

The party, as much as to his dismay, was just as wild as he imagined. Drunk boys were laughing about university anecdotes and raunchy details about their high school romances. It was also noted that Hinata was trying to kiss Kei by proving that he is tall enough to actually reach his lips. This drunken act earned a disapproving glare from Tadashi and Tobio practically ripping the smaller boy away from a smirking Kei.

 

(“What are you trying to prove, dumbass?” Tobio hissed after grabbing Hinata’s shoulders away, his back facing Kei.

 

Hinata gave him a toothy grin and then took a sip from his _obviously_ empty cup. “That I’m taller now!”

 

Tobio’s eyebrows scrunched up in puzzlement and then took the cup away from Hinata’s grip. He shook his head and then ushered the boy to a couch and pushed him into a sitting position. Tobio muttered to himself that his friend is too drunk to even function.

 

He faced Hinata and then patted down the orange tussle atop his head. “You should not try kissing other people when you’re drunk,”

 

Hinata pouted and then practically shrieked back at the looming boy,”Huh? Why is that?”

 

Tobio looked taken aback by Hinata’s words. He quickly surveyed the room to see if anybody was looking--there were none.

 

He leaned towards Hinata’s ear and then whispered something.

 

Hinata turned beet red in return.)

  


A chorus of noise took Daichi’s fleeting mind away from his task at hand (which was grilling a infinite amount of meat with an obliging Asahi). A serie of amazed screams from Ryu, Yuu, and Hinata was a signal that somebody came to the party this late. He peeled his ears to know who that person might be.

 

“Suga-san,” Tobio’s cool, calculating voice rose above the ruckus.

 

“Where have you been, Suga?” Asahi asked, eyes trained on the meat that he has been grilling beside Daichi.

 

“Ah, I’ve been everywhere-” his smooth voice abruptly stopped, probably because he saw Daichi clenching his fists in agony.

 

Asahi didn’t notice the tense air that was built around Suga and Daichi. Instead, he asked Suga to come closer and assist them in grilling the remaining meat.

 

But before Suga could inch closer to where Daichi and Asahi were standing, he hastily excused himself from Asahi and then briskly walked as far as he could from Suga.

 

His thoughts were a mess. He knew deep inside that he still yearns for Suga; but it’s just that the pain that he has been on for the past few days outweigh everything else. This pain dulled his senses, almost blinding him from everything that gives him happiness and satisfaction.

 

Losing Suga turned him into a hollowed-out version of himself; and he knows that it will take ages before he could fill that space up again.

 

Daichi, taking his newfound liberty into use, decided to drink as much as he could without seeing double. As soon as he felt himself wobbly and using the countertop as support, he knew that he was drunk enough to at least face his fear of seeing Suga’s beautiful face.

A cup in his right hand, he took a mouthful of beer and gulped it in one go, feeling its bitter taste travel down his guts.

“In lieu of drinking and keeping this night as boring as it could be,” Coach Ukai started to speak, hands firm on his waists, “why won’t we play a shit game to spice it all up?”

“Beer pong?” Kei asked, suddenly interested.

“Much more shitty that that,” Coach Ukai urged as the rest of the team flocked around him.

“Oh,” Chikara giggled, “is it spin the bottle?”

A chorus of groans and utter frustration erupted from everyone in the room except Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei.

“It will be fun!” Takeda-sensei cheered, placing an empty beer bottle on the coffee table.

Coach Ukai then, forced the boys into a circle and made them sit. By the time he was done, everybody just resigned to the fact that this game will surely go down to history once more.

Takeda-sensei, being the self-proclaimed facilitator of the game, gave the bottle its first spin, landing on an expecting Yuu.

Yuu hooted in glee and then pumped up his arms into the air. He yelled, “Truth!” before Takeda-sensei could even ask him anything.

Takeda-sensei slyly curled his lips into a smile and then asked Yuu, “If you could date anyone in here, who would it be?”

Without pause, Yuu smiled his usual shit-eating grin and then said, “Who else would it be? It’s no other than my Kiyoko-san!”

Laughs emanated from the circle. Defensively, Ryu pointed out that Kiyoko wasn’t here for she had some family emergency a day prior to the celebration.

“That answer is invalid, pick another one!” Ryu bellowed at his friend.

“Huh?” Yuu scratched the back of his head and then sweeped his gaze across the room. He hummed for a few more minutes and then decidedly said, “Well, Asahi-san isn’t half-bad.”

The boys, in turn, stared at the long-haired subject. He has already hiding from his usual position of scratching his nape. This made everyone jest at how flustered Asahi is because of Yuu’s words.

Without further ado, Takeda-sensei spun the bottle once again, landing its mouth on an unsuspecting Kei.

“Truth or dare?”

“This is stupid,”

“So what is it?”

Kei sighed, annoyed at the stupidity of this whole tirade, “Dare,”

The circle erupted into a burst of shock. They weren’t expecting Kei to actually participate, moreover, pick the weirder choice.

“Act as a dinosaur that’s trying to seduce Tadashi,” Chikara snickered, an excruciatingly funny revenge on Kei’s flippant attitude during high school.

“What?” his usual deadpan voice rising into half an octave.

“You have to do it, Kei,” Takeda-sensei giggled.

 

Daichi heard Kei throw a string of mumbled curse words before walking up to where Tadashi was situated. The freckled boy widened his eyes as Kei inched closer to his ears and grumbled a sound that resembles a slow roar for everyone to hear.

After such act, everyone was hysterically laughing and clutching their stomachs for dear life. Kei was flushed deep red and Tadashi looked way too baffled to even react. Even Daichi couldn’t help but laugh at the comicality of everything.

 

When the whole team were finally recovered from laughing way too much, Takeda-sensei returned to his old job and then spun the bottle.

 

It landed square on Daichi’s lap.

 

Daichi felt himself drenched in cold sweat as he looked up to Takeda-sensei’s expectant face. The words truth or dare felt like a blunt hit to this stomach, overturning his guts, making him want to vomit.

 

“I’d like t-to be excluded from this,” Daichi started to mumble, as he planted his palms on the floor, anchoring himself up.

 

“No way!” Hinata tittered, pushing the captain down back to his seat. “You have to do it like everyone else!”

 

“I really don’t want to,”

 

“Who says you were given a choice to start with?”

 

Daichi froze. He couldn’t think of a proper excuse just to get himself out of this unfortunate predicament. So he did what he had to do. He picked between the two options, hoping that it wouldn’t have to be something that Suga is in too.

 

“Dare,” he mumbled, crossing his fingers.

 

The circle went quiet, thinking deeply on the best dare for their previous captain.

 

“Let’s do  seven minutes of heaven together,” a voice spoke up, opposite of Daichi.

 

He looked up to see where the dare came from, and it was no other than Suga himself.

 

Daichi’s jaw went slack in utter shock, his brain questioning what might have been the other boy’s motive for making him do such impossible task.

 

How can Suga be so heartless?

 

As his thoughts flew over the place, he was whipped up by Suga’s firm hand to the nearest broom closet. Suga’s hand threw the door open and carefully placed its contents on the side of the closet. Neither Daichi nor the rest of the boys were processing what might have gone through Suga’s head to do such an impulsive task.

 

“H-Hey,” Daichi started to say when he was pushed into the broom closet, Suga scooting to his right side, “what are you doing?”

 

Suga shut the door, “I am doing the dare, you prick.”

Daichi was clueless. He thought to himself, _how could Suga be so impulsive?_

 

“Stop acting like nothing happened,” Suga started to say in the dark, his voice amplified by the small space they were currently in.

 

Daichi felt his face grow hot, “I am not acting like nothing happened. I wasn’t the one who walked away!”

 

“Well I wasn’t the one who acted like my feelings were a mistake!”

 

“What are you trying to imply?” Daichi whispered, not wanting the other teammates to eavesdrop on their conversation.

 

Daichi felt Suga turn to face him. Even though they couldn’t see much, a string of light by the crack on the door provided enough illumination so that Daichi could see enough details on Suga’s face.

 

“That you made me feel,” Suga paused, eyes trained on Daichi’s averting ones, “like as if I didn’t deserve the love you gave me; maybe because you felt guilty for having them.”

 

“I do not feel guilty for liking you! I was just afraid that you do not like me back and we will lose all these years of friendship that we have!” Daichi faced Suga, both of their breaths hot on each other’s faces.

 

Suga’s eyebrows cocked up to the side, a hint of a smile forming on his lips.

 

Soon enough, he started laughing, putting his palms all over the sides of the closet for support.

 

“What’s so fu-” Daichi was cut short by Suga’s lips on his.

 

He was shell-shocked at first, eyes wide as he felt the man that he likes the most in the world be _this_ close to him. Skin on skin, lips on his.

 

He closed his eyes and savored the sensation, like two oscillating waves meeting at a point, forming a great tide of overwhelming feelings. His face felt hot, and his hands were in places that he never knew he’d get to hold.

 

His palms were splayed on Suga’s nape and his body wanted to be much much much more closer to him, almost to the point that he’d let himself fall apart and be pulled up back again by him. He felt himself be stuffed by stars, only to be spooled endlessly and drawn taut. Kissing feels like magic to him.

 

He let Suga kiss him, he let him giggle when he kissed the top of his head, the mole on his left eye, the constellation of freckles that dusted his collarbones, his neck, and then back again on his lips. He let himself run wild on the terrain that is ecstasy.

 

Daichi never knew that kissing would be so fun that he’d let himself lose breath and then dive back again as if Suga was the ocean and his arms were the currents pulling him deeper.

 

If kissing Suga would make him drown, boy, he’d let himself fall deep.

  
  
  


The boys opened up the closet door and saw Suga and Daichi, faces red and lips swollen. Nobody around the team ever spoke about whatever they heard that day.

 

On the way home, Suga and Daichi were inseparable. They were practically clinging on to each other all the way back, smiles mischievous and full of secrets that only the two of them could ever talk about.

 

It stayed like this until they were back in university. Unlike the last time, when people were telling them that they look like they were dating, they’d just smile to each other and affirm that they are. They are together now, and they are happy with it.

 

Things felt better this time. They were truly happy and at ease with each other.

 

Not to mention that they truly enjoy sex. God, if they were to start talking about sex, they’d never stop.

  
  


Daichi woke up to the cold air of having the covers stolen once again by Suga. He blinked at the sight of the morning light illuminating a strip of porcelain skin down Suga’s back, filling him with a sense of happiness that he felt his heart leap and jump to his throat.

 

He paused, as he tentatively reached out to his boyfriend’s immaculate bed hair, soft and matted slightly by the fact that he has overslept once again. Suga felt so fragile when he was like this, eyes closed, breathing measured, and face peaceful. Oh how desperately he wanted to feel his calloused hands travel on the outline of his body, holding on to the dip of his pelvis and back again to the broad of his chest.

 

He felt so in love it was impossible to not want to kiss him this early in the morning.

 

Suga stirred awake and opened his eyes to the sight of Daichi, ridiculously staring at him with those deep chocolate eyes that he has. He reached up to his face and then kissed him, softly.

 

“Morning breath,” Daichi started to speak up when they parted ways, earning a slight chuckle from Suga.

Suga felt his boyfriend rise from his bed as he walked over the kitchen sink and then brushed his teeth. Suga started to speak up,”It doesn’t matter, please come back here,”

 

Daichi turned on the faucet and then rinsed his mouth and toothbrush and set it back up. “You are so impatient sometimes, baby.”

 

Suga felt himself turn hot at the endearment, “I really like it when you call me pet names,”

 

Daichi went back to the bed and then smiled at him, “Ooh, what’s your favorite, then?”

 

Suga shrugged as he felt Daichi starting to kiss his neck. He felt Daichi’s five-o-clock shadow tickle his jaw and he sighed at the feeling of pleasure coursing through him. “Mhhm, call me anything, really.”

 

“Do you like to be called,” Daichi sucks on a spot on his neck, “babe?”

“Honey,” he works his way up to Suga’s jaw, “princess,” he peppered his cheeks with kisses, “sweetcheeks?”

 

Suga just hummed in agreement. “Baby,” he whispered, “I like that.”

 

Then, Daichi kissed him on the lips, soft, slow, and then suddenly it was much more aggressive, thirsty, even.

 

Boy, does he like it when Daichi gets a little rough in the mornings.

  


Daichi found the lube after a feeling for the bedside drawer. Suga was starting to whimper when he saw the beautiful sight of Daichi propping himself up in between Suga’s thighs. Daichi then poured a copious amount of liquid on his fingers. Suga swallowed the lump that has been forming on his throat for quite a while now and then motioned to Daichi with a nod that he was ready.

 

A begrudgingly delicious whimper escaped through Suga as Daichi slipped in the first finger to feel through it. He was actually feeling pretty tight since it had been a while since they had done this. Daichi gulped to keep himself in control as he watched Suga looked helpless in his touch. He slipped in another finger and he was seriously trying not to touch himself while doing so. He slowed down and then moved his fingers slightly, hooking and crooking, widening the hole.

 

He took his time, until they were both flushed and sweating from all the sexual frustrations travelling up their cocks. Time, he believes, is truly relative. For others, this had been mere minutes, but for him, and his throbbing cock it felt like agonizing hours.

 

“I’m ready Daichi,” Suga groaned as Daichi hooked his fingers inside of him once again, sending a wave of ecstasy through his body.

 

“Are you sure?” Daichi wasn’t breathing, he was really ready to do it too.

 

Suga nods his head. Daichi pulled his fingers out and then propped himself to get a better view of his boyfriend.

 

He put on a condom on his hard-on and then slicked it with lube. He clambered over Suga’s body, palms on Suga’s knees. He nudged his cock to Suga’s entrance and tentatively angled himself in a position that makes it easier for the both of them. He slowly slid the head in, his own thoughts lost in pure lust.

 

“Go on,” Suga moaned when Daichi felt himself stutter. He was halfway in and the only place he could go is deeper.

 

Daichi moved slowly, building an agonizing pace for both parties. Suga’s hands were all over the place, one tugging on Daichi’s hair, and the other on Daichi’s hips, pushing him in time of the rhythm that they have built. Daichi pushed and pulled, slowly; sweet friction building over their bodies.

 

Suga was moaning in tones that sent shivers down his spine. His thrusts were better now, and he has propped his body in a way that it hits Suga’s sweet spot, rendering the boy helpless with each sumptuous thrust. He knew that he has to help his boyfriend get off. So, he placed his palms on Suga’s cock, earning sweet noises with every breath he’s taking.

 

His thrusts were getting quicker now, but he tries his best not to get sloppy. He also started pumping Suga’s cock on the rhythm of his thrusts.

 

“I’m near,” Daichi groaned as he thrusted harder, this time, his pace getting a lot more quicker.

 

Suga couldn’t even string together a sentence, so he just tightened his grip on Daichi’s hips and then dug his nails on round of his ass to say that he too, is on the edge.

 

Both of them were tittering on the edge, each thrust closer to the ecstasy that they have been waiting for. Suga orgasms first, then Daichi. He felt Daichi fall onto his side as he tried to grope through the stars and constellations that he has been seeing. He felt blinded, and overpowered by Daichi’s scent lingering on his body.

 

Suga evened his breath and then turned to Daichi, who was smiling stupidly at him. He pressed a soft kiss on Daichi’s temple and they both ended up laughing.

 

Suga closes his eyes and feels for Daichi’s hand. When they were finally intertwined, he let himself drift back to sleep. In his dreams, he remembers Daichi and the fateful night they had on Coach Ukai’s party.

 

He let himself remember, and he smiles in his sleep.

  
  
  


_When they were both panting for air and holding on to each other for their joints felt like mush, Suga was still giggling._

 

_Face flushed, he asked, “Why didn’t you say so?”_

 

_“Daichi you are so dense,” he giggled again, “I have liked you for ages.”_

 

_He was taken aback. “What? What do you mean?”_

 

_Suga kissed his forehead, lips light. Daichi felt like spinning, “ I have liked you since we were in high school. I really couldn't bring myself to say it. But, yeah, I do. I still do.”_

 

_“I thought I’d never have you,” Daichi whispered, putting his forehead on Suga’s, arms tight on his body. Daichi doesn’t want to let go. He doesn’t think that he will ever be able to let Suga go again._

 

_“You have me now,” Suga smiled against his neck, “you can have me for as long as you like.”_

 

_“And you promise to stay?”_

 

_“Forever, if you want.”_

 

_Daichi kisses him again._

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my god, I swear this fanfic took me two months to finish. (lmao i worked on it during the semestral break and then stopped bc of school and now that christmas break is here, I finally got the chance to FUCKING finally finish it)
> 
> i swear this is my baby and i worked really really hard for it and i haven't edited it yet bc i literally just finished it ten minutes ago and i want to conceive this bad boy alreadY
> 
> hope you had fun and pls pls pls drop in some comments bc bitch I THIRST


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